Compassing the Pursuit of Happiness

In our relationship with God we are to give him his legal right—namely, all that we have and are. The Christian is to be as a matter of course totally dedicated to God (Rom 12:1-2) and filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18). For his part God gives to us positionally, as we are in Christ, forgiveness of sins (Eph 1:7), eternal life (Rom 6:23), adoption as sons (Gal 4:5), and the availability of unlimited help and power (Eph 1:18-19). Think of how much that means! Moreover, he gives to us experientally, as we are Spirit-filled, the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindess, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23). When this relationship is intact, the product in our lives will be righteousness (Rom 6:16),and the by-product of righteousness is happiness. Happiness is an elusive thing and will never be found when pursued directly; but it springs into being as one pursues the knowledge of God and his righteousness is realized in us.

- William Lane Craig (emphasis added)

To call happiness "elusive" is an understatement of the highest order. Human beings have searched for that evanescent "meaning of life" seemingly for as long as we've existed, and we're inevitably left seeking. All of us look for happiness in different places, things or people, but the pursuit is almost always fruitless. We each have our own idea regarding what we need to be happy and, along with those, laundry lists of complaints about why we're not: we've lost a loved one, been diagnosed with an illness, been the target of slander, lost our job, suffered betrayal at the hands of a friend, been the target of ridicule, been rejected by a member of the opposite sex or don't have enough money to live comfortably. Even in the rare case that we do get exactly what we were hoping for, we soon realize that the proverbial grass is greener somewhere else, and our futile quest begins anew with some higher expectation. Is it because we are simply unsatisfied (and ungrateful) by nature, or is the explanation a pragmatic one: we're never satisfied because we're ever striving toward something better? Or could the reason be that we're searching for the wrong things? More than 1600 years ago, the great theologian Augustine began his autobiography, The Confessions, by addressing God: "You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You." So many of us have made this discovery for ourselves, yet our hearts remain restless even after we have finally found God.

Our discontent lingers because there are always those things that happen in the course of our lives which threaten the serenity we've found. But, have you ever considered that the things about which we're often so worried probably matter very little in God's eyes? God sees the only real cause for concern: we have all sinned and need to be reconciled with Him. It's not that God doesn't care when we are in pain—perish the thought, for Scripture tells us repeatedly that He shares our pain—but He sees that the genuine source of our greatest pain is not the circumstances we find ourselves in, but the fact that we are separated from God. And once we have been reconciled with Him by accepting the freely offered gift of salvation through grace and Christ's atoning sacrifice, that problem has been remedied. Indeed, the miraculous works of Jesus Christ exhibit that the primary source of healing comes from righting that communion. Certainly, Jesus didn't pass by those who were suffering without healing them, for God's compassion is limitless. "Which is easier," asked Jesus, "to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?" Author Philip Yancey observes, "Jesus never met a disease he could not cure, a birth defect he could not reverse, a demon he could not exorcise. But he did meet skeptics that he could not convince." That skepticism keeps us distant, because we need faith to be saved. Jesus pitied the people he met because of their afflictions, but moreso he was concerned about their failure to recognize the true source of their pain, and what they truly need.

So, the question becomes: do we define happiness in the short-term, by things that offer a fleeting feeling of wholeness? Or can we overcome our own inevitably myopic perspective and consider the long-term, realizing that this life itself is fleeting and that eternal life should be our goal? In Christ, we have all that we need. It is my sincere hope that we never forget that, and never allow that axiom to be reduced to a mere platitude. No matter what else comes our way, may we take not only joy but confident assurance in that knowledge, lest we become like Peter when he walked out on the water toward Jesus, then discovered himself sinking when he let the troubles of the world distract his focus (take heart, too, though, that Jesus will reach out and catch us—just as he took hold of Peter's hand—when we allow ourselves to become similarly discouraged). Finally, may we rejoice not only in the hope we have in the Lord but also in all of our sufferings, because suffering grants us the opportunity to grow (Romans 5:2-5, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised him from the dead."

- Ephesians 1:18-20

This Christmas, To Whom Will You Be Giving Gifts?

Our concept of Christmas is completely backwards and, honestly, it kind of sickens me. Please read on before you write me off as another "Scrooge"...

Every year, around Christmas, I see mall traffic increase exponentially. I wade through an influx of "holiday" catalogs and circulars. I look on as people run around determined that they need to buy expensive gifts for everyone they know. I hear infinitely more advertisements on the radio explaining to me that it's not enough to just tell your wife you love her: you need to buy her diamonds to prove it. I see people spending large amounts of time, energy and money decorating their homes, stores and offices. This year, for the first time, I even read about thousands of trees being cut down in the Pacific northwest and being shipped to Hawaii by boat. I see waste everywhere, money being spent hand-over-fist in the pursuit of a "better Christmas." At the same time, I see countless charitable organizations struggling to secure a small part of all of that spending in the form of "year-end gifts," and I'm inevitably left wondering why—especially at this time of year—charity is nothing more than an afterthought.

You see, Christmas—even if you don't celebrate the birth of Christ—is a holiday that is all about giving. But almost every single one of us in this country has much more than we need. If you eat three meals a day and sleep indoors every night, if you're reading this on your computer, you are among the wealthiest people in the world. Let me repeat that: you are among the wealthiest people in the world. Yet, somehow we've become convinced that we need larger televesions, louder stereos, expensive jewelry and clothes, GPS units and nice cars (I'm certainly guilty of this one). We need more. More, more, more... and it never ends because we never have enough. And Christmas, unfortunately, becomes nothing more than a slightly better excuse than most to get more stuff. I want to make it clear that I don't have any problem, per se, with people who get into the so-called "holiday spirit" by decorating and all of that. I am greatly dismayed, though, that the holiday seems to have been entirely stripped of its spirit. We have allowed ourselves to be horribly distracted. We already have so much—far more than we need—so I ask you, how can we possibly justify asking for more when there are so many out there with close to nothing?

Now, you may be thinking this seems like a socialist idea, but let me assure you that I fully believe that an economic system based on the capitalist model provides the greatest opportunities for human growth and well-being. But the reason that capitalism hasn't been at all effective in terms of providing for all people is solely because of human greed. Regardless of what many would have you believe, greed is not an intrinsic property of capitalism: that part is up to us. I believe in a form of responsible, charitable capitalism, in which those with much provide for the needs of those with little, not because they are legally compelled to do so, but simply because it is the right thing to do.

And the case is lucidly clear for those of us who call ourselves Christians. Scripture, I believe, is very clear in telling us that God blesses us in abundance so that we may bless others (2 Cor 9:7-8). Jesus Christ gave us two commandments in the Gospels, telling us that these two dictates showed the intention that was at the heart of the Law. First, we should love God with all our hearts, bodies, and minds. Second, we should love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus told us that the second was "like the first," and I read this to mean that one of the greatest ways we can show love to God is to show love to His children: we complete the former precept by upholding the latter. God spoke to the prophet Isaiah and posed a question: does God care about us "going through the motions" of religious worship of Him, or does He care about how we take care of and provide for all of His dear children who are in need (Isa 58)? Jesus tells us that "a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions" (Luke 12:15). All of that will fade away and rot; none of it is eternal. Further, we should be freely willing to give: "God loves a cheerful giver." Why do we give, and why should we do it cheerfully? Because it is, in fact, the very manner in which we love: by giving not only of our possessions but of our time and our care and concern. Jesus was our example; he always looked out for the interests of others (Php 2:4-6). And surely Luke was not just using flowery language when he wrote, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). We were all born with nothing, and we'll all die with nothing. God reminded the Jewish people time and time again that they were slaves in Egypt and He brought them out, and for that reason they should look after the fatherless, the alien and the widow and ensure that they receive justice (Deut 24). We are no different: we were slaves to this world until He shattered that yoke. Each and every human being is a precious jewel in God's sight. My wish is that all of us could see people as He sees them, and recognize the need to care for our brothers and sisters like the cherished treasures they truly are.

All of these things have been weighing heavily on my mind lately, especially when I think about the true meaning of Christmas. They are the reason I have made a choice to not only donate money that I would have spent on gifts to charity rather than purchasing gifts for my friends, but have also asked my friends and family to do the same in lieu of giving any gifts to me. I have so much more than I need; I don't need any more. I should be not only content but overjoyed with what I have. Why is that so hard a concept to grasp? Perhaps because we have so much more than we need that we never quite had the opportunity to understand how great it was to just have "enough." Do you really need anything more? I would ask you to ponder that question, and—if it's where your conclusions lead you—consider making a similar choice to mine. Indeed, giving gifts and giving of yourself is a wholly appropriate way of celebrating Christmas. But are we giving those gifts to the right people, the people who need them most?

Please understand that I'm not in any way trying to set myself up on a pedestal by telling you this. I do so not to boast, but rather to share my heart with you and speak a message that I feel needs to be heard. I'm not implying that I've even come close to actually living out this philosophy of selflessness, and—in fact—I'm positive that I'll never be able to claim that I have. I'm reminding myself more than I'm reminding you; I'm asking you to hold me accountable, and hoping that you might ask me to do the same for you. I am humbly saying that I've screwed up big-time, and want to take a tiny step towards getting it right.

The empathy of our Lord

Hebrews 4:14-16 (NIV):
"¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,[a] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. ¹⁶Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Jesus Christ knows what you are going through. He knows the temptation of sin. He knowingly chose to suspend His omnipotence and become human for exactly that purpose, so that by putting Himself in our shoes He could truly offer us salvation. You see, the wages of sin is death: for every sin, something has to die. And God knowingly chose to die for you, so that your sins could be paid for. Pretty incredible... pretty humbling.

Unified Underground 2007

Just imagine it... punks, goths and hardcore kids from all over the country, all gathering in one place for three days, all sharing the same belief systems and—as Leroy from War of Ages put it—all committed to changing the world. Speakers from the various cultures opened their hearts and spoke their minds to the rest of us, teaching us and encouraging us by pointing to the Word, and bands led our worship in their own styles ranging from punk rock to gothic-industrial to electronic to metalcore. This was UNIFIED UNDERGROUND 2007.

I'm going to be honest: I didn't know how well it was going to work. I didn't know if the kind of fellowship we were aiming for was possible, but I knew that God had a plan for this weekend. And His plan came to fruition by His grace! His children, no matter what they looked like, got to know each other and built lasting friendships that will persist long after everyone arrives back home in their respective states. All of the social walls were completely obliterated, and we shared our time in worship, growth, learning, discipleship and even recreation. Every time I looked around, I saw people talking and introducing themselves, rather than sticking with the groups that they had come to the conference with. Real, enduring UNITY was achieved this weekend, and that unity is only going to continue to grow and strengthen as the spirit of this weekend "trickles down" through all of the people who participated as they share their experiences this weekend with others.

I am still collecting my thoughts and reflecting over this weekend, but I think I can safely speak for everyone in attendance and say that it was a life-changing event for all of us. Every person with whom I've spoken has said that they grew through the events of the weekend, and are committed to being there next year and every year after.

Over the next few days and weeks, we'll be collecting photos and testimonies to share with all of you that couldn't make it! If you were there, please email me with any testimonies or weblogs that you kept for the event, and links to any photos you may have taken.

We've got less than a year until UNIFIED UNDERGROUND 2008, featuring our amazing friends in Flatfoot 56. We're shooting for the first weekend in October (Oct. 3-5, '08), so mark your calendars and start making your plans now! God bless!

Article: Proclaiming Christ In Our Culture

A friend of mine sent me a link to this great article about evangelism in our culture.

http://www.billygraham.org/DMag_article.asp?ArticleID=839

"Fundamentalist Christians"

A friend of mine forwarded to me a chain letter that in effect "called out" fundamentalist Christians, and asked me what I thought about it. Well, I had quite a bit to say, so I figured some of you might be interested in reading my response also. I realize I probably gave this far more weight than I should've, but perhaps it will help address some of the issues that you or someone you know has with Christians or Christianity in general.

I noticed, above all, that most of these are based on misconceptions and prejudiced notions of Christians or, in some cases, on the actions of a particular group of Christians. Additionally, the term "fundamentalist" has taken on a nasty political connotation that has little to do with the actual idea of Christian fundamentalism. I disagree with the actions of many of those extremely vocal troublemakers that the media labels "fundamentalist Christians"—probably even moreso than most non-Christians—because they are misrepresenting the Gospel message or missing the centrally important tenets of that message. The list of boldfaced items below are the contents of the original message, and the text after each represents my response.


Fundamentalist Christians

10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.

I believe that the Bible holds up to historical scrutiny much better than any other ancient text, historical or otherwise. We have far more original manuscripts from the Bible than any other work, including those that are considered historical fact, such as the works of Plato, Josephus, Socrates and other historical figures. Additionally, the Bible is by far the most studied literary work in the history of mankind, yet still none have been able to irrefutably disprove the historical accuracy of the work.

It would be nice to believe that "all paths lead to Heaven," but unfortunately the Bible tells us that that is not the case. We as Christians should not be "outraged" when someone denies the existence of God or disagrees with our beliefs... rather we should seek to truly understand what they believe and where they are coming from. I myself was an atheist until about five years ago, and it's easy to forget that when I'm dealing with atheists, but it's essential that I remember what it was like to be in their place and why I doubted.

9 - You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.

Again, we shouldn't take insult when people hold different beliefs. The theories of Evolution (macroevolution) are widely taught as fact, although they are actually far from it. I think it's more reasonable to believe that people descended from apes than the larger issue: the very origin of life. The evolution of primate to man is far more believable to me than the idea that a living cell could have come into being through some electrochemical process working on inanimate elements, or that a unicellular organism could then somehow reproduce and then organize into multicellular creatures with irreducibly complex organs.

8 - You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God.

I don't "laugh" at polytheists. This is another generality that is true only of some Christians. You can't judge Jesus Christ by some of His followers... or even all of them, for that matter.

7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" including women, children, and trees!

These instances are taken out of context, and are irrelevant. The wage of sin is death, and since we are all sinners, we all deserve to die. God is the only one who has the right to pronounce that judgment on us, and the only one who has the power to forgive our sins. Who are we to judge God's actions?

Referring to the atrocities committed by Islamic extremists equates to comparing apples to oranges, because we are talking about the actions of humans versus the actions of God. When you look contextually at Scripture as a whole, you see a plan of Law that unfolds. This guidebook for how we as human beings should act culminates in the two greatest commandments given by Jesus Christ himself, two commandments on which all of the other laws and revelation of the Old Testament hang. The first is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37), and the second to, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39). We complete the former commandment by carrying out the latter. The way that we love other human beings is the way the we love God.

6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.

Again, I don't "laugh" at any of those beliefs, but for many reasons I find that Christian truth claims are the most believable.

5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old.

A several-billion-year-old earth is hardly a "scientifically established" fact. There is plenty of evidence to the contrary, and every single day science makes revisions to previous theories. In fact, many of the underpinning conjectures that have been used to establish the age of the earth (carbon-dating, for example) have been disproved or at least seriously revised.

4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival sects - will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving."

This is one of the hardest things to understand and accept about the Christian faith. But, look at it this way. Heaven is a place where we live eternally in the immediate presence of God. The Bible tells us that God is love, light, warmth and joy, and basically everything else that is good. If Heaven is the presence of all of those things, than Hell must be the absence of all of those things. Sin is absolutely hateful to God; it sickens Him. God would, in actuality, be doing an injustice if He allowed sin to exist in this perfect place that is Heaven, because it would no longer be perfect. Only through the covering of our sins with the "once and for all" atoning sacrifice of Christ's blood are we made pure in the sight of God, and therefore able to share in the joy of being in His presence for eternity. Jesus died as a sacrifice for us, specifically for the purpose of cleansing us of our sin. If we choose not to accept Christ, we are still soiled with the sin, and therefore cannot be in His presence. Those who are not in God's presence feel no "love, light, warmth and joy" because all of those things are from God, and they have chosen to be apart from Him. God offers the choice because He gave us free will because He loves us... it's not His fault that we take advantage of it. If we were all automatons who blindly accepted Christ and had no choice in the matter, that wouldn't show genuine love but rather coercion. Although I would love to believe that just being a good person is enough to have eternal life, Scripture teaches us clearly that it is not: we are incapable of being "good," and the only way to be made good is through Jesus Christ.

I think it's a very interesting and important point that Christianity is the only religion that I know of that requires no work or sacrifice on our part in order for us to achieve salvation, redemption, enlightenment, eternal life, or some other form of "higher being." All that is required of us is that we accept the freely-given grace offered to us through Jesus Christ. This sets Christianity apart from all other religions of the world, and is one of the aspects that I find most believable, because logically it seems to me that there is no amount of "good" work or sacrifice that any human being could do to achieve some kind of higher being. The only way we could hope to achieve it is through grace.

3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity.

The proof I have is manifold. It is not only rooted in history and the scientific disciplines mentioned above, but also proved experientially by what God has done in my life. I am a completely different—and better—person than I was before I gave my life to Christ. Christianity can never be "proven." If it could, there would no longer be a choice to be made, and everyone would be a Christian. Faith goes hand in hand with our ability to make the choice.

2 - You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.

This is based on a misunderstanding of prayer. God is not a cosmic vending machine, dispensing "blessings" and "fortune" as we please. The "prosperity Gospel" is garbage, and Scripture doesn't back it up at all. Prayers are not just about asking for what you want, and getting it. God has a plan and we are not in a position to understand it, being that He exists outside of time and space, and that we are limited by our mortality. I can't really count the number of times that I've asked for something or some outcome and been disappointed that things didn't go my way, only to discover later that I was better off not getting what I wanted. To paraphrase the priest from a friend's church, "God always answers our prayers, and sometimes the answer is 'No.'" But I suppose that, if you're very selfish and small-minded, you never want to hear, "No," and consider it a failure when you don't get exactly what you want every single time, regardless of anyone or anything else. Only an omniscient being always know what the best outcome of a situation could be. Since no human being is omniscient, it stands to reason that none of us has any basis for pronouncing judgments regarding God's success or failure.

1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian.

As Christians, we have a responsibility to learn as much as we can about the Bible. The Word and the Spirit are the only sources of divine knowledge that we have, and we should seek to learn everything that we can about the character of God since it is our calling to be Christ-like in all aspects of our life. As we study the Bible, our faith will grow because we learn more about God, we see the unity of Scripture, and we overcome doubt. Contrariwise, studying the Bible will never help someone who has already made the decision that it's a bunch of crap. Many non-believers who seek with an open mind and study Scripture will find that the Christian truth claims actually do make the most sense. I'm one of them.

The Creation Museum

Here is an interesting article on a new museum in Petersburg, Kentucky (near Cincinnati, Ohio) devoted to proving Creation through modern science: "Inside the Creation Museum" (Salon.com). I'm personally not sure that I affirm the brand of "young earth Creationism" espoused by this museum's founders, but I have read quite enough to to cause me to be very skeptical about the concept of Darwinian Evolution (macroevolution) as it is currently taught in our schools. This museum, at the very least, will hopefully facilitate the opening of a forum for debate, and obligate both sides to redouble their efforts to seek tenable evidence with which to bolster their respective positions regarding the origins of life.

Only One Thing Lasts Forever

I've been listening quite a bit lately to contemporary folk singer William Elliott Whitmore. In one of his dirges entitled "Lord Only Knows," Whitmore laments the fleetingness of life and elegizes the flowers from a funeral, which are starting to wilt as they, too, die. The song evoked a cathartic response and caused me to reflect on the fact that, as some point, all of us are forced to deal with losing loved ones. Death is practically the only certainty in life, and probably the hardest part to deal with. It's a tragedy of whose painful sting has been felt by nearly every one of us. Death is the end of all that we know through our experience and senses, but Christians believe it is the beginning of something else. All too often, though, we forget the promise of eternal life in the midst of our sorrow. Mourning is necessary, and expected—even Jesus himself mourned the death of his friends—but we must be careful that we don't let lament tear us apart. Mourning must end at some point, and we must remember the promise. We must recall that in Jesus Christ we have everlasting life. I considered, while contemplating this song, that there are two ways we can respond to loss: we can turn away from Jesus Christ and wilt like Whitmore's proverbial flowers, or we can turn our eyes toward Him and gain strength and comfort through the hard times. In fact, these responses apply to almost any hardship, regardless of the severity, with which we might be faced.

Almost twelve years ago, I lost my grandfather to cancer. He was the first person to whom I was close who I lost to death's cold grip, and the loss made me question what I had learned about God, so much so that I eventually walked away from Him and decided that what I had been taught about God was a lie. I thought that, somehow, I would find meaning or answers now that I had freed myself from the "lie" that I perceived the Christian worldview to be. Three years later, I lost one of my best friends to suicide. The search for something to fill the void and ease the pain continued.

Almost five years ago, though, that search ended for me. Things came full-circle, and I found all of the answers to my questions in Jesus Christ, through the Bible and the people whom God had placed in my life. Scripture explained the pain on earth, and not only gave an answer for it, but also described God's place in all of it. Had I actually bothered to look there in the first place, perhaps I'd have noticed them, for they had been there all along. The experiences of others helped me to deal with the pain that I was feeling. Newfound knowledge of grace assured me that I could return to Jesus Christ without fear of being turned away.

Earlier this year, I experienced something of an abbreviated parallel to the tragic deaths of my grandfather and friend years ago. In early February, my aunt Lucy passed away, finally succumbing to numerous health problems that had plagued her for many years. Lucy was a quiet lady who exuded love through everything she did. Less than a week later, on Valentine's Day, my friend Mike was struck by a car and died shortly thereafter. Mike had a tough-guy exterior that thinly veiled his abundant generosity and genuine compassion, and he left behind a daughter who hadn't even celebrated her first birthday yet. These losses were incredibly painful to me, especially Mike's, whose death seemed so premature, and my initial reaction was to question God. Why would he allow these things to happen? It was the same question that I had repeatedly asked a decade earlier, only this time I turned to God for the answers.

I realized, finally, that death is not the end, but the beginning. It is not the worst thing that can ever happen to us, but the most glorious. Death is freedom from the suffering of this life, and the birth into the joy of the next. Those of us who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ have in that relationship hope. Although we mourn the loss of our loved ones, we celebrate their deliverance to a better place. We can find comfort and even joy in the secure knowledge that God Himself is personally with us to help ease the pain. The ache of loss and the agony of death do nothing to disprove the existence of God or His promise of everlasting life, but the strength we have available in Him confirms it. Life on this earth does not last forever and that is a wonderful thing, for it gives way to that which does last forever: eternal life with the Father. And it is the freely-given gift of Grace through Christ that allows us to experience that life without end.

Interesting article: "Goth like me: Teens embrace subculture"

A friend sent me a link to this article: "Goth like me: Teens embrace subculture" from the Bristol Herald Courier out of Bristol, VA.

Obviously, they picked the person with the most negative view of the goth subculture to provide the counterpoint for the article, but it does give you a great idea of how people determine books by their covers. This also provides another example of subcultures breaking into the mainstream. It's happening, and for once the Church needs to be ahead of the curve instead of struggling to catch up.

Thoughts from the "Friends of YFC" Banquet

I had the great pleasure last night of attending Metro Maryland Youth For Christ's annual "Friends of YFC" Fundraising Banquet. I was extremely encouraged by what I experienced there, and would like to share what I've been thinking about in the hours following the event.

The night opened with the moving testimony of a young man who had recently been saved while on a weekend trip to which his family had all but forced him to go. This same weekend, his three best friends committed a robbery, during which they also murdered someone. His friends are now serving sentences of 15 to 25 years for their crime; this young man would have certainly shared that fate had he not been on the YFC-sponsored trip at the time. Every once in a while, God's plans for our lives are much more apparent than they usually seem.

The keynote speaker for the evening was the Grammy-winning contemporary Christian artist Michael W. Smith. Smith also happens to be a pastor at a church in Tennessee, and a surprisingly approachable and down-to-earth gentleman. Mr. Smith began his speech by giving a special "hats off" to Hope For The Rejected in front of approximately 1,500 people who attended the banquet, citing our mission specifically as one of great consequence. He also briefly mention Rocketown, a skate park and music venue that he established in Nashville, with a similar goal of reaching youth wherever they may be. I mention this not to bring attention to our ministry, but because I think it is incontrovertible proof that there are people in the mainstream church that really do "get it."

It's all too easy for us [subcultural Christians] to place the blame squarely on everyone else, but I feel that it's high time that we start assuming some of that blame ourselves, or at the very least end the self-pitying complacency. More and more, I have come to realize that my perception of being ostracized from mainstream churches is not rooted in reality, but primarily the result of my own prejudices against those whom I feel are intolerant of me. I don't mean to suggest, of course, that every self-affirming Christian in this country welcomes the pierced and tattooed folks into their church... or even treats them benignly, for that matter. Even if it's not entirely our problem, though, shouldn't we be proactive about it and become the catalysts for the change which we wish to see? The best way to attack the division that we see in the Church and the legalistic and judgmental attitudes that we perceive is to work with the mainstream church, not to separate ourselves from it. We can take steps, even if we are not widely accepted at first, toward realizing our vision of a unified Church that can look past outward appearances and see people as God sees them: inestimably valuable. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:4, "there is one body and one Spirit" (emphasis mine); it's time for this body—the Church—to start working as a whole. This is one of the major issues that we will be discussing at our upcoming Unified Underground conference this fall.